Kimyasal şartlandırılmış çamur ile dondurma/çözme ile şartlandırılmış çamurun su verme özelliklerinin karşılaştırılması

The objective of this study was to compare dewatering properties of chemically conditioned sludge and freeze/ thawed sludge as determined by mainly specific resistance to filtration (SRF), dry solids content of sludge cake (DS), and capillary suction time (CST) parameters. The experimental studies were carried out with mixed sludge samples taken from a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Turkey. In chemical conditioning experiments, sludge samples were conditioned with different dosages of polymer using classical jar test method. In freeze/ thaw conditioning experiments, samples were frozen at -16.5 degrees C at different freezing rates and then thawed at 21 +/- 1 degrees C at different times in order to determine the effect of thawing time on dewatering performance. 25 mg/L polymer dose and 2.71 mm/h freezing rate were found to be optimum in terms of sludge conditioning. Rapid freezing that is higher than 8.13 mm/h could not sufficiently condition the sludge and there was no significant effect of thawing time on conditioning performance. Dewatering properties of chemically conditioned sludge and freeze/thawed sludge was determined as very close to each other. While CST and SRF reductions were calculated as 76% and 75%, respectively at 25 mg/L polymer dosage, 2.71 mm/h freezing rate application caused 79% and 76% reduction in CST and SRF, respectively

A research on Brassicaceae species of Kirikkale in terms of morphology, anatomy, palinology and molecular phylogeny

YÖK Tez ID: 504275Bu tez çalışması, 2012-2017 vejetasyon dönemlerinde Kırıkkale ilinde doğal yayılışa sahip Brassicaceae familyasından 28 cinse ait 43 takson üzerinde gerçekleştirilen morfolojik, palinolojik, anatomik, moleküler, taksonomik ve filogenetik çalışmaları içermektedir. İncelenen taksonların betimi, teşhis anahtarı, çiçeklenme zamanı ve habitatı ile ilgili bilgiler güncellenmiştir. Polen tanelerinin şekilleri prolat-sferoyidal ilâ perprolat arasında değişmektedir. Bütün taksonlar trikolpat apertüre sahiptir, ancak Matthiola longipetala'da kolpuslar çok belirgin değildir. Polenler genel olarak küçük ve orta büyüklüktedir. Aethionemeae, Sisymbrieae, Cardamineae, Chorisporeae, Conringieae, Descurainieae, Euclidieae ve Hesperideae oymaklarında sadece küçük polenler bulunurken diğer oymaklarda ise hem küçük hem orta büyüklükte polenler vardır. En büyük polenlerin bulunduğu Alyssum simplex, Fibigia clypeata, Lepidium draba türlerinde polar eksen 35,97 µm uzunlukta iken, en küçük polenlerin bulunduğu polar eksen Descurainia sophia türünde 10,9 µm uzunluktadır. Ekzin ornamentasyonu mikroretikulat, retikulat ve makroretikulattır. Yaprak epidermisi elektron ve ışık mikroskobunda çalışılarak epidermis hücrelerinin şekli, büyüklüğü, antiklinal hücre duvarlarının şekli, stoma tipi, şekli ve büyüklüğü belirlenmiştir. Epidermis hücrelerinin düzensiz şekilli, dikdörtgensi veya çokgen şeklinde, epidermisdeki hücrelerin antiklinal duvarlarının düz ilâ kemerli, kemerli, az fırfırlı, fırfırlı ve kıvrımlı olmak üzere beş farklı tipte olduğu görülmüştür. Stomalar yaprağın her iki yüzünde bulunmakta olup genellikle anisositik tiptedir. Sinapis arvensis ve Calepina irregularis gibi türlerde anisositik stomalarla birlikte az sayıda da anömositik tipte stomanın varlığı da tespit edilmiştir. Çalışılan türlerde stoma indeks oranı 0,73-1,42 arasında bulunmuştur. Stoma indeks oranı en düşük Sisymbrium loeselii ve en yüksek Draba nana türünde görülmüştür. Yaprak epidermisinde salgısız ve salgılı tüyler ayırt edilmiştir. Salgısız tüyler tek hücreli olup, basit, Y-şekilli, 2, 3 veya 4 kollu, dalsı, yıldızsı, kalkansı ve çengelli şekillerdedir. Salgılı tüyler ise çok hücreli bir sap ve yuvarlağımsı çok veya tek hücreli bir baştan oluşmuştur. Tüy yüzeyi süslenmesi ise düz, noktasal tüberküllü, çizgisel tüberküllü, siğilli ve emzik şeklinde tüberküllü olarak ayırt edilmiştir. Hücre kavislenmesi, Diplotaxis tenuifolia, Lepidium draba, Neslia paniculata, Draba nana, Microthlaspi perfoliatum ve Aethionema dumanii türlerinde konveks olup, diğer türlerde düzdür. Epikutikular yüzey süslenmesi düz, çizgili, kırışık ve K.-çizgili olmak üzere 4 tipte görülmüştür. Genel olarak bakıldığında kırışık ve K.-çizgili epikutikular yüzey süslenmesi en yaygın olan tiplerdir. Kutikula üzerindeki mumsu örtü kabuksu, kristalsi, filmsi ve düz tabakalı olmak üzere 4 çeşittir. En yaygın olarak düz tabakaya, daha sonra ise filmsi mumsu örtüye rastlanmıştır. Kırk bir türe ait nrDNA ITS bölgesi nükleotit dizisi elde edilmiştir. Bu dizilerin uzunluğu yaklaşık olarak 700 bç civarındadır. Filogenetik analizler, bu çalışmada toplanan bitkilerden elde edilen diziler ile gen bankasından (GenBank) temin edilen dizilerle yapılmıştır. Ayrıca, vejetatif ve generatif morfoloji, yaprak epidermisi ve polen karakterlerine dayalı olarak ta filogenetik analizler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu tez çalışmasında nrDNA ITS dizilerine dayalı olarak yapılan analizlerde elde edilen sonuçlar genellikle önceki önemli bazı çalışmalarla uyum göstermiştir; bazen de farklı sonuçlar elde edilmiştir. Bu çalışmaya göre, Aethionemeae, Alysseae, Anchonieae, Arabideae, Brassiceae, Cardamineae, Chorisporeae, Coluteocarpeae, Descurainieae, Erysimeae, Hesperideae, Isatideae, Lepidieae ve Sisymbrieae oymakları monofiletik; Conringieae ve Thlaspideae oymakları polifiletik; Camelineae oymağı ise parafiletik olarak ortaya çıkmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında Microthlaspi'nin Thlaspi cinsinden ayrılması ve Calepina cinsinin Brassiceae oymağının dışında yer alması desteklenmiştir. Türkiye Florası'ndaki Cardaria draba türünün Lepidium cinsine aktarılması ve Boreava cinsinin de Isatis cinsiyle birleştirilmesi doğrulanmıştır. Erysimum cinsinin Camelineae oymağından ayrı monofiletik bir grup oluşturmuştur. Coluteocarpeae oymağının Thlaspideae ve Conringieae oymakları ile aynı klad üzerinde bulunması bu üç oymak arasındaki yakın ilişkiyi göstermektedir.In this thesis, morphological, palynological, anatomical, molecular, taxonomic and phylogenetic studies were carried out on 43 natural taxa belonging to 28 genera from Brassicaceae family in Kırıkkale province between 2012 and 2017 vegetation periods. Description, identification key, flowering time and habitats of the taxa examined were updated. The shape of pollen grains varies from prolate-spheroidal to perprolate. All the taxa have tricolpate apertures, but Matthiola longipetala has the colpi which are not very obvious. The polen is generally small and medium-sized. There are only small pollen grains in the tribes of Aethionemeae, Sisymbrieae, Cardamineae, Chorisporeae, Conringieae, Descurainieae, Euclidieae and Hesperideae, while in others both small and medium sized pollen grains exist. The polar axis of Alyssum simplex, Fibigia clypeata and Lepidium draba, where the largest pollens are found, is 35.97 µm long, while the polar axis of the smallest pollen is 10.9 µm long in the species of Descurainia sophia. The exine ornamentation is microreticulate, reticulate and macroreticulate. Leaf epidermis was studied by electron and light microscopy to determine the shape, size, shape of the antiklinal cell walls of the epidermal cells, type, shape and size of stoma. It has been observed that the epidermis cells are irregularly shaped, rectangular, or polygonal, with the antiklinal walls of the cells in the epidermis being in five different types: straight to arched, arched, slightly undulate, undulate and sinuous. The stomata are found on both sides of the leaf, usually anisocytic. In some species, such as Sinapis arvensis and Calepina irregularis, anisocytic stomata with a few anomocytic type were also obtained. The stoma index ratio in the studied species was found between 0.73 the lowest as in Sisymbrium loeselii and 1.42 the highest as in Draba nana. Glandular and non-glandular trichomes were detected on leaf epidermis. Non-glandular trichomes are single-celled and simple, Y-shaped, 2, 3 or 4-armed, dendritic, stellate, peltate and hooked. Glandular trichome has a multicellular stalk with a rounded single or multi-celled head. The ornemantation of trichome surface is distinguished as flat, pointed tubercle, linear-tubercle, wart and nipple-like tubercle. Cellular curvature is convex in the species of Diplotaxis tenuifolia, Lepidium draba, Neslia paniculata, Draba nana, Microthlaspi perfoliatum and Aethionema dumanii and is flat in other species. The epicuticular surface ornamentation is seen in 4 types as plain, striate, wrinkled and ridged. In general, wrinkled and ridged epicuticular ornamentation are the most common types. The epicuticular wax on the cuticle is 4 types as crust, crystalloid, film and smooth layer. The most common is the smooth layer, followed by the film wax. Nucleotide sequences of nrDNA ITS region for 41 species were obtained. The length of these sequences is approximately 700 bp. Phylogenetic analyzes were carried out based on the sequences from the plants collected in this study and accessions obtained from the gene bank. Phylogenetic analyzes were also made based on vegetative and generative morphology, leaf epidermis and pollen characters. The results obtained in the analyzes based on nrDNA ITS sequences in this thesis generally coincided with previous important studies; sometimes different results were obtained. According to this study, tribes of Aethionmeae, Alysseae, Anchonieae, Arabideae, Brassicae, Cardamineae, Chorisporeae, Coluteocarpeae, Descurainieae, Erysimeae, Hesperideae, Isatideae, Lepidieae, Sisymbrieae are monophyletic; Conringieae, Thlaspideae tribes are polyphyletic; the Camelineae tribe is paraphyletic. In the course of this study, separation of Microthlaspi from the genus Thlaspi and removal of the genus Calepina out of the Brassiceae tribe were supported.Transferring the species of Cardaria draba of Flora of Turkey to the genus Lepidium and merging Boreava into the genus Isatis was confirmed. The genus Erysimum formed a monophyletic group separated from the tribe Camelineae. The presence of the tribe Coluteocarpeae on the same clade with the tribes Thlaspideae and Conringieae shows a close relationship amongst these three tribes

Ectopic opening of common bile duct into the duodenal bulb: magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography findings

PURPOSEWe aimed to evaluate the spectrum of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) findings in patients with ectopic opening of the common bile duct (CBD) into the duodenal bulb and to determine the effectiveness of the MRCP technique in diagnosis.METHODSMorphologic and morphometric MRCP/MRI features in 16 patients and 36 controls were retrospectively analyzed by 2 radiologists. The frequency of MRCP findings was determined. The significance of the difference between the MRCP observations in patients and controls was evaluated statistically and the diagnostic effectiveness of MRCP was investigated.RESULTSHook-shaped ending of CBD and bulbar deformity were the most frequent morphologic findings seen on MRCP in the ectopic bulbar opening. Mean pylorus-papilla distance and mean CBD length were significantly shorter and the median diameter of CBD was significantly larger than the control group (patients: 28.6 ± 15.3 mm, 33.7 ± 12.8 mm, 8.6 (2-16) mm; controls: 66.7 ± 11.7 mm, 50.3 ± 14.4 mm, 3.2 (1.5-10) mm, P < .001, respectively). Receiver operating curve analysis showed sensitivity and specificity of MRCP in the diagnosis to be 87.5% and 100%, respectively, if any 3 of the 4 signs (hook-shaped ending of CBD, bulbar deformity, large, and short CBD) were present in a patient whose pylorus-papilla distance was <50 mm.CONCLUSIONAt MRCP, the presence of short and large CBD with a hook-shaped ending in the deformed duodenal bulb may support the diagnosis of ectopic biliary drainage

Final disposal evaluation of anaerobically stabilized municipal treatment plant sludge

Bu &ccedil;alışma, anaerobik y&ouml;ntemle stabilize edildikten sonra mekanik su alma işlemlerinde susuzlaştırılan kentsel nitelikli arıtma &ccedil;amurlarının d&uuml;zenli katı atık depolama tesislerinde bertaraf edilebilirliğinin değerlendirilmesi amacıyla y&uuml;r&uuml;t&uuml;lm&uuml;şt&uuml;r. Atıkların d&uuml;zenli depolama tesislerine depolanabilme kriterleri, Tehlikeli Atıkların Kontrol&uuml; Y&ouml;netmeliği (2005), EK-11 A kapsamında yer alan eluatta &ccedil;&ouml;z&uuml;nm&uuml;ş organik karbon (&Ccedil;OK) ve orijinal atıkta toplam organik karbon (TOK) parametreleri y&uuml;ksek organik madde i&ccedil;eriğine sahip kentsel nitelikli arıtma &ccedil;amurları i&ccedil;in &ouml;nem taşımaktadır. Bu &ccedil;alışma kapsamında İzmir&rsquo;de bulunan bir kentsel atıksu arıtma tesisinden alınan biyolojik &ccedil;amurlar mezofilik sıcaklık koşullarında anaerobik olarak stabilize edilmiştir. Anaerobik &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;tme &ccedil;alışmaları, laboratuvar ortamında kurulan 8.5 L hacimli iki reakt&ouml;r&uuml;n farklı &ccedil;amur alıkonma s&uuml;relerinde 30 g&uuml;n s&uuml;reyle işletimi ile y&uuml;r&uuml;t&uuml;lm&uuml;şt&uuml;r. Anaerobik olarak &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;t&uuml;len &ccedil;amurların mekanik su alma işlemlerindeki performansları bir belt-press sim&uuml;lat&ouml;r&uuml; ile tayin edilmiştir. Laboratuvar ortamında elde edilen &ccedil;amur keklerinde yapılan analizler ile anaerobik &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;tme sonrasında mekanik y&ouml;ntemle susuzlaştırılan &ccedil;amurların d&uuml;zenli depolama tesislerine depolanabilirlikleri eluatta &Ccedil;OK ve orijinal atıkta TOK parametreleri dikkate alınarak değerlendirilmiştir. Sonu&ccedil;lar, anaerobik y&ouml;ntemle stabilize edildikten sonra mekanik olarak susuzlaştırılan &ccedil;amurların kek katı madde i&ccedil;eriklerinin d&uuml;ş&uuml;k olması sebebiyle mekanik su alma işlemi &ouml;ncesinde şartlandırma işlemine tabi tutulması gerekliğini ortaya koymuştur. Bunun yanı sıra anaerobik y&ouml;ntemle stabilize edilmiş &ccedil;amur keklerinin EK-11 A&rsquo;da belirtilen TOK standartları uyarınca inert atık sınıfında yer aldığı ancak &Ccedil;OK standart değerleri uyarınca tehlikeli atık sınıfında yer aldığı ve evsel katı atık d&uuml;zenli depolama tesislerinde bertarafının uygun olmadığı belirlenmiştir.&nbsp;Anahtar Kelimeler: Anaerobik &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;tme, biyolojik &ccedil;amur, d&uuml;zenli depolama, mekanik su alma, nihai bertaraf.&nbsp;The main by-product of municipal wastewater treatment of waste activated sludge (WAS) has been increasing worldwide as a result of an increase in the amount of wastewater being treated. The sludge should be processed and disposed of in accordance with the environmental health criteria for environmental reasons. The main objectives of sludge treatment and disposal are stabilization of the organic matter contained in the sludge, reduction in the volume of sludge for disposal by removing some of the water, destruction of pathogens, collection of by-products, which may be used or sold to off-set some of the costs of sludge treatment, and disposal of sludge in a safe and aesthetically acceptable manner (Scholz, 2006). For many authorities and engineers, the effective sludge management is still a big challenge since the investment and operational costs (Metcalf & Eddy, 2003). Treatment and disposal of excess sludge in a biological wastewater treatment system requires enormously high cost which has been estimated to be 50-60% of the total expense of wastewater treatment plant (Egemen et al., 2001; Yasui, 1996). Sludge stabilization is an important issue in sludge management field for effective reduction of organic matter, removal of pathogen and odor potential. For this purpose, alkaline stabilization, aerobic and anaerobic stabilization, aerobic thermophilic digestion, and composting are introduced. Among these methods, anaerobic digestion has been widely used with its many advantages. The main advantages of anaerobic digestion in comparison with other processes are; the lower energy requirement, the production of biogas and the lower production of excess sludge including efficient degradation of biodegradable particulate organic matters in sludge (Novak et al., 2003; Speece, 1996). Mechanical dewatering processes have been widely used for reduction in the volume of sludge for disposal by removing some of the water (Scholz, 2006). Mechanical dewatering processes like centrifuging, belt filter press, and filter press reduce the total volume of sludge even further so reducing the ultimate transportation cost of disposal. The resultant sludge is a solid, not a liquid, and so can be easily handled by conveyers or tractors although experience has shown that the dried sludge, known as cake, is more easily handled at solids concentrations of >20%. Its solid nature makes it suitable for many more disposal options than liquid sludge (Gray, 2005). This study was carried out for evaluation of final disposal of anaerobically stabilized sludge after mechanical dewatering in a municipal solid waste landfill area. Total organic carbon (TOC) in sludge cake and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in eluate are important parameters for treatment plant sludge contained high organic matter in terms of Turkish Hazardous Waste Control Regulation, THWR EK- 11 A, 2005. In this study, anaerobic stabilization was applied to biological sludge samples. . The samples were taken from a municipal wastewater treatment plant located in Izmir, Turkey. Anaerobic sludge digestion studies were carried out using two 8.5 L lab-scale anaerobic reactors. The reactors were operated as semi batch system in mesophilic conditions at 37±2 oC for 30 days of operation period. Different sludge retention time of 5 days and 10 days were used in digestion study. For evaluation of anaerobic digestion performance of reactors, total solids (TS), organic matter (OM), suspended solids (SS), and volatile suspended solids (VSS) were analyzed regularly. Daily methane productions in reactor content were also measured during the operation period. The belt press simulator of crown press was used for evaluation of mechanical dewatering properties of sludge. For final disposal evaluations of dewatered sludge in a municipal solid waste landfill area, TOC parameter in sludge cake obtained from crown-press application and DOC parameter in eluate samples were analyzed regularly during the operation period. Results indicated anaerobic digestion is an effective method for sludge's solids reduction and it leads to decrease organic matter content of sludge. In contrast, anaerobic digestion has not a positive effect on increasing cake solids and some conditioning processes are required before mechanical dewatering operations. In addition, final sludge cake is classified as inert material based on the TOC parameter but it is classified as hazardous waste based on the DOC parameter according to Turkish Hazardous Waste Control Regulation, THWR EK- 11 A, 2005 and it can not be storage in a municipal solid waste landfill area for final disposal purpose. Keywords: Anaerobic digestion, biological sludge, landfilling, mechanical dewatering, final disposal

Ultrasonic pre-treatment of treatment plant sludge

Bu &ccedil;alışmada, bir ileri oksidasyon tekniği olan ultrasonik arıtmanın biyolojik &ccedil;amurların anaerobik &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;mesi &ouml;ncesinde bir &ouml;n arıtma işlemi olarak kullanılabilirliği &uuml;zerine yapılan deneysel &ccedil;alışmanın sonu&ccedil;ları verilmiştir. &Ccedil;alışmada olduk&ccedil;a d&uuml;ş&uuml;k ultrasonik frekans (20 kHz) uygulamasında, &ouml;zg&uuml;l enerji değişiminin &ccedil;amur dezentegrasyonu &uuml;zerindeki etkisi incelenmiştir. Bu ama&ccedil;la, 0 ile 15880 kJ/kg KM arasında değişen &ouml;zg&uuml;l enerji değerleri kullanılarak flok dezenteg-rasyonu a&ccedil;ısından en uygun enerji seviyesi dezentegrasyon derecesi parametresi dikkate alınarak değerlendirilmiştir. Bunun yanı sıra, ultrasonik &ouml;n arıtma işleminin biyolojik &ccedil;amurların &uuml;st suyu &ouml;zellikleri, &ccedil;amur katılarının &ccedil;&ouml;z&uuml;n&uuml;rl&uuml;ğ&uuml; ve &ccedil;amurların filtrelenebilirlik &ouml;zellikleri &uuml;zerine olan etkisi değerlendirilmiştir. Ultrasonik y&ouml;ntemle &ouml;n arıtılan &ccedil;amurların anaerobik &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;me potansiyelleri ise y&uuml;r&uuml;t&uuml;len biyokimyasal metan potansiyeli (BMP) testleri ile değerlendirilmiştir. En y&uuml;ksek dezentegrasyon derecesi (%57.9) değeri 9690 kJ/kg KM &ouml;zg&uuml;l enerji uygulamasında elde edilmiş; 9690 kJ/kg KM &ouml;zg&uuml;l enerjinin flok dezentegrasyonu i&ccedil;in yeterli olduğu sonucuna varılmıştır. Daha y&uuml;ksek &ouml;zg&uuml;l enerji uygulaması dezentegrasyon derecesinin d&uuml;şmesine neden olmuştur. BMP testi sonu&ccedil;ları ise ultrasonik &ouml;n arıtma işleminin &ccedil;amurların biyolojik olarak par&ccedil;alanabilirliklerini geliştirdiğini g&ouml;stermiştir. 9690 kJ/kg KM &ouml;zg&uuml;l enerji kullanılarak &ouml;n arıtılmış &ccedil;amurda ham &ccedil;amura oranla %44 daha fazla metan gazı &uuml;retimi sağlamıştır. Ultrasonik &ouml;n arıtma uygulaması &ccedil;amur &uuml;st suyunda kimyasal oksijen ihtiyacı (KOİ), toplam azot ve toplam fosfor konsantrasyonlarının artışına neden olmuştur. Ultrasonik &ouml;n arıtma uygulamasıyla azalan toplam katı madde ve organik katı madde i&ccedil;erikleri de ultrasonik &ouml;n arıtma uygulamasının &ccedil;amur katılarının &ccedil;&ouml;z&uuml;n&uuml;rl&uuml;ğ&uuml;ne neden olduğunu g&ouml;stermiştir. Kapiler emme s&uuml;resi (KES) testi sonu&ccedil;ları ile ultrasonik &ouml;n arıtma uygulamasının &ccedil;amurların filtrelenebilirlik &ouml;zelliklerini olumsuz etkilediği belirlenmiştir.&nbsp;Anahtar Kelimeler: Anaerobik par&ccedil;alanabilirlik, biyolojik &ccedil;amur, flok dezentegrasyonu, ultrasonik &ouml;n arıtma.Disintegration was developed as the pretreatment process of sludge to accelerate the digestion processes. Ultrasonic treatment may be a good alternative for sludge disintegration. Ultrasonic energy can be applied biological sludge to disintegrate flocs and disrupt bacterial cells? walls, and the hydrolysis can be improved, so that the rate of sludge digestion and methane production is improved1. Ultrasound treatment as sludge disintegration results in increase of chemical oxygen demand in the sludge supernatant and size reduction of sludge solids (Tiehm etal., 1997). Ultrasonic process leads to cavitation bubble formation in the liquid phase. These bubbles grow and then violently collapse when they reach a critical size. Cavitational collapse produces intense local heating and high pressure on liquid?gas interface, turbulence and high shearing phenomena in the liquid phase. Because of the extreme local conditions, OH?, HO2?, H? radicals and hydrogen peroxide can be formed. Thus, three mechanisms (hydro-chemical shear forces, thermal decomposi-tion of volatile hydrophobic substances in the sludge, and oxidizing effect of free radicals produced under the ultrasonic radiation) are responsible for the ultrasonic activated sludge disintegration (Bougrier etal., 2005; Wang etal., 2005; Riesz etal., 1985). Previous studies showed that low frequency ultrasound like 20 kHz is very effective in activated sludge disintegration, Gonze etal., 2003; Zhang etal., 2008). The effects of initial total solids content of sludge, power density, and sonication time on floc disintegration were investigated by several researchers (Chu etal., 2001; Gonze etal., 2003; Show etal., 2007; Zhang etal., 2008). Previous studies showed that low density and long duration sonication is more efficient than high density and short duration (Pham etal., 2009; Xie etal., 2009). In this work, feasibility of using an oxidative technique of ultrasonic treatment to improve anaerobic biodegradability of biological sludge was investigated. Different specific energy inputs ranged 0 to 15880 kJ/kg DS was applied to biological sludge for disintegration purpose and optimum energy input was evaluated based on disintegration degree parameter. The disintegration degree permits to evaluate the maximum level of sludge solubilization. Increase of DD is determined as the substance that can be readily used to produce methane in the anaerobic digestion (Wang et al., 2005). The disintegration degree of sonicated sludge increased with increasing specific energy in each experiment. The highest disintegration degree was achieved 9690 kJ/kg DS application; hence 9690 kJ/kgTS of supplied energy is efficient for cell lysis. Particle size of sludge is another important parameter for floc disintegration. The reduction in particle size generally allows an easier hydrolysis of solids within the sludge due to larger surface areas in relation to the particle volumes. The result is an accelerated and enhanced degradation of the organic fraction of the solid phase (Muller, 2003). Ultrasonic treatment led to change of physico-chemical characteristics of sludge. For instance, temperature increased almost linearly with increasing specific energy. In contrast, pH decreased during ultrasonic pre-treatment. The destruction of floc structure and disruption of cells results in the release of organic sludge components into the liquid phase. Thus, sludge?s supernatant characteristics were also affected the ultrasonic pre-treatment. For 9690 kJ kg-1TS, the soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) in sludge?s supernatant increased by 340%, 860%, 716%, and 207.5%, respectively. In sludge disintegration processes organic material is transfered to the liquid phase from the solid phase. Higher solubilisation degree of volatile solids in sludge is important for the elimination of hydrolysis phase of anaerobic biodegradation further. Ultrasonic treatment induced sludge reduction due to the solubilization of total and volatile solids. The main purpose of disintegration is the elimination of hydrolysis step to accelerate the anaerobic degradation. The potential for improving anaerobic digestion through ultrasonic pre-treatment was also evaluated with biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests. BMP results obtained in this study suggest that ultrasonic pre-treatment lead to increase the anaerobic biodegradability of biological sludge. For 9690 kJ/kg TS, 44% higher methane production in pre-treated sludge was obtained comparing to the raw sludge. Protein hydrolysis was also performed successfully by ultrasonic pre-treatment even at very low ultrasonic density levels. Furthermore, CST results showed that ultrasonic pre-treatment deteriorates the filterability of biological sludge. Keywords: Anaerobic biodegradability, biological sludge, floc disintegration, ultrasonic pre-treatment

Pre-treatment processes applied to decrease quantity and to improve dewatering properties of treatment plant sludge

Atıksu arıtma tesislerinde, arıtma işlemleri sonucunda oluşan arıtma &ccedil;amurlarının anaerobik y&ouml;ntemlerle stabilizasyonu; atık b&uuml;nyesindeki organik madde i&ccedil;eriği ve patojen mikroorganizma konsantrasyonunun azaltılması amacıyla g&uuml;n&uuml;m&uuml;zde yaygın olarak kullanılan bir y&ouml;ntemdir. Anaerobik &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;me uygulamasının derecesine bağlı olarak &ccedil;ok faydalı bir son &uuml;r&uuml;n olan ve temiz enerji kaynağı olarak nitelenen biyogaz eldesi m&uuml;mk&uuml;n olmaktadır. Anaerobik &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;me prosesinin olduk&ccedil;a yavaş bir s&uuml;re&ccedil; olması ve &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;me sonrasında organik maddelerin t&uuml;m&uuml;yle par&ccedil;alanamaması nedeniyle tam stabilizasyonun sağlanamaması ve elde edilen biyogaz miktarının az olması araştırmacıları anaerobik &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;meyi hızlandıracak ve stabilizasyon derecesini artırmayı sağlayacak yeni y&ouml;ntemler geliştirmeye y&ouml;neltmiş ve &ccedil;amur &ouml;n arıtımı amacıyla kullanılan bir y&ouml;ntem olarak &ccedil;amur dezentegrasyonu geliştirilmiştir. Dezentegrasyon işleminde, &ccedil;amura uygulanan gerilmeler sayesinde &ccedil;amur flok yapısı bozulmakta, mikroorganizma h&uuml;cre duvarları par&ccedil;alanmakta, h&uuml;cre i&ccedil;eriğindeki organik &ccedil;amur bileşenleri sıvı faza ge&ccedil;mektedir. Dezentegrasyon sonucunda, &ccedil;amur katılarının organik madde i&ccedil;eriği en aza inmekte, dolayısıyla daha d&uuml;ş&uuml;k miktarda ve daha stabil bir &ccedil;amur eldesi m&uuml;mk&uuml;n olmaktadır. Organik maddenin y&uuml;ksek derecede par&ccedil;alanması klasik anaerobik &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;me işlemine g&ouml;re daha fazla biyogaz &uuml;retimine olanak sağlamaktadır. Bu &ccedil;alışmada anaerobik arıtma &ouml;ncesinde &ccedil;amura bir &ouml;n arıtma işlemi olarak uygulanan dezentegrasyon işleminin mekanizması ve ama&ccedil;ları &ouml;zetlendikten sonra dezentegrasyon y&ouml;ntemleri hakkında bilgi verilmiştir.&nbsp;Anahtar Kelimeler: &Ccedil;amur, anaerobik &ccedil;&uuml;r&uuml;me, dezentegrasyon.The main by-product of municipal wastewater treatment of waste activated sludge (WAS) has been increasing worldwide as a result of an increase in the amount of wastewater being treated. Treatment and disposal of excess sludge in a biological wastewater treatment system has enormously high cost which has been estimated to be 50?60% of the total expense of wastewater treatment plant (Egemen et. al., 2001). Anaerobic digestion is a common process for stabilization of treatment plant sludges. Compared with other processes, its advantages are less energy required, a better stabilized product, and usable gas. Anaerobic digestion process is achieved through several stages: hydrolysis, acidogenesis, methanogenesis. For waste activated sludge degradation, the rate-limiting stage is the hydrolysis. Biogas considered as the clean energy source is produced in the anaerobic digestion process depending on the stabilization degree. Anaerobic digestion is a slow process, which results in a long residence time and the requirement of a large tank volume. In order to improve hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion performance disintegration was developed as the pretreatment process of sludge to accelerate the anaerobic digestion and to increase degree of stabilization (Bougrier et. al.,2005) . Disintegration process results in an improvement of velocity and degree of degradation. To increase of stabilization degree of sludge with disintegration process provides less sludge production, more stable sludge and more biogas production comparing the classical anaerobic digestion. Sewage sludge disintegration can be defined as the destruction of sludge by external forces. The forces can be of physical, chemical or biological nature. As a result of the disintegration process is numerous changes of sludge properties (Müller et. al., 2004). Disintegration cause disruption of microbial cells in the sludge, thereby destroying the cell walls (Vranitzky et. al., 2005). The destruction of floc structure and disruption of cells results in the release of organic sludge components into the liquid phase. These components exist in a dissolved phase, e.g. components of intracellular water, or can be liquefied. Particle size or colloidal components may still be present within the solution because they cannot be separated from the liquid phase. Their minute particle size and only a slight difference in density of particle and surrounding water are the cause. But components are easily biodegradable on the other hand. Since they are already liquefied or offer a large surface in comparison their volume, the hydrolyzing process is simple. Released carbon compounds after disintegration are easily accessible and can be digested much faster in later biological process than sludge in a particular phase. The results are shorter degradation times and higher degrees of degradation during the aerobic and anaerobic stabilization. Besides, these compounds can further be used for carbon limited process steps within the wastewater treatment such as denitrification or the biologically enhanced phosphorus elimination. After disintegration, the liquid phase has to be cleaned from the released nitrogen and phosphorus compounds before leaving the treatment plant. If this happens by returning the water into the WAS-process, additional capacities have to be taken into account. Disintegration within the sludge pre-treatment has advantages in combination with selective recyling processes due to the increased nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations (Müller et. al., 2004). In recent years, for the purpose of waste activated sludge (WAS) minimization and more biogas production than classical anaerobic digestion, several disintegration methods have been investigated. The methods can be classified as following topics; - Chemical disintegration (Ozone treatment, Alkaline treatment, Fenton process etc.) - Mechanical disintegration (Stirred ball-mill, High-pressure homogenizer, Ultrasonic Homogenizers, Lysatcentrifuge, Jet Smash Technique, The High Performance Pulse Technique etc.) - Thermal disintegration - Biological disintegration (High temperature sludge stabilization with thermophilic bacteria, Enzymatic lysis). In this study, the mechanisms and objectives of disintegration process was summarized and then disintegration methods were evaluated. Keywords: Sludge, anaerobic digestion, disintegration

Magnetic resonance elastography: basic principles, technique, and clinical applications in the liver

Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is a constantly advancing technique for assessment of stiffness of tissues with newer technology and sequences. It is being increasingly used for the assessment of liver fibrosis. In this article, we discuss the advantages of MRE over biopsy and noninvasive methods such as US elastography in the assessment of liver fibrosis. Image acquisition and interpretation of liver MRE is also discussed

Apparent diffusion coefficient histogram analysis for predicting neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy response in patients with rectal cancer

PURPOSEThis study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histograms in predicting chemoradiotherapy (CRT) response in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC).METHODSA total of 51 patients who underwent surgery in our institution for rectal cancer following neoadjuvant CRT between November 2013 and July 2019 were enrolled. Conventional magnetic resonance (MR) and diffusion-weighted images obtained before and after CRT were evaluated retrospectively. All tumor-containing regions of interests were drawn in 3 selected axial images, and special software for histogram analysis was used to evaluate ADC distribution. ADC cutoff values from post-CRT ADC histogram were calculated from receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for evaluating CRT response.RESULTSIn histopathological analysis, 5 patients (9.8%) had minimal response (group 1), 31 patients (60.8%) had partial response (group 2), and 15 patients (29.4%) had complete or almost complete response (group 3). In the ADC histogram, minimum, maximum, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile, mean ADC values, and skewness values of groups 2 and 3 showed significant changes before and after CRT, but no difference was found within group 1 values. The mean, 25th, 50th, 75th percent ADC values after CRT and skewness, and kurtosis values were significantly different between group 1 and group 3. Skewness value from the ADC histogram in postCRT magnetic resonance imaging had the best diagnostic performance with an area under the ROC curve of 0.851 (P =.003) for detecting group 3. The skewness cutoff calculated from the ROC analysis was 0.210 for evaluating CRT response. The sensitivity and specificity of the cut-off value were 100% and 61.4%, respectively.CONCLUSIONThe ADC histogram analysis seems to have potential application in predicting response to neoadjuvant CRT in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer

Use of MRI to identify enlarged inferior gluteal and ischioanal lymph nodes and associated findings related to the primary disease

PURPOSE:We aimed to draw attention to the lymph nodes at the inferior gluteal and ischioanal regions and evaluate the lesions accompanying them using 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).METHODS:In total, 22 patients (15 men, 7 women; mean age, 50±11.2 years; age range, 32–71 years) were included in this study. The patients’ medical records were reviewed. MRI data were reviewed on a picture archiving and communication system workstation by two radiologists in consensus. Lymph node location, laterality, number, and size were documented.RESULTS:The primary disorders causing the enlargement of inferior gluteal lymph nodes (n=16) were perianal fistula of cryptoglandular origin (n=5), perianal fistula associated with Crohn’s disease (n=2), decubitus ulcers (n=2), presacral abscess (n=1), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n=2), prostate cancer invading urethra and anorectal junction (n=1), endometrium cancer invading the urethra and vagina (n=1), and anal cancer (n=2). The pathologies causing the enlargement of ischioanal lymph nodes (n=6) were perianal fistula of cryptoglandular origin (n=4), subcutaneous inflammation of gluteal region related to Crohn’s disease (n=1), and prostate cancer (n=1).CONCLUSION:The infectious and neoplastic lesions involving the anal canal, distal rectum, gluteal region, prostate, and urethra are the possible causes of inferior gluteal and ischioanal lymph node enlargement. Lymphoproliferative diseases can also affect these node groups. MRI is an important method to identify enlarged inferior gluteal and ischioanal lymph nodes and define associated findings